IMSI/Design opened its doors in 1983, when they released their first graphics software known as PC Paintbrush. In the late '80s, they once again made a huge leap into the world of precision drawing with their release of TurboCAD, FloorPlan and DesignCAD. Since that time, IMSI/Design has grown into one of the world's leading manufacturers of professional CAD software. Their latest update is TurboCAD Pro Platinum, a combination of both 2D and 3D CAD design bundled into one easy-to-use software package. This is by far their most comprehensive CAD product on the market.
TurboCAD Pro Platinum includes all of the basic tools and features you will find in any AutoCAD software, and of course it includes a few additional tools for 3D design. TurboCAD focuses more on the three-dimensional object rendering side of CAD software. The Platinum version includes a variety of tools specifically designed for making complex images a possibility. The addition of excellent 3D tools and easy-to-use floor plan tools earns TurboCAD Pro Platinum our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award.
The Pro Platinum version includes almost all of the features we look for in the best professional CAD software. You will find all of the standard CAD features, as well as varieties of new and unique features. IMSI/Design focuses a lot of their attention on making complex jobs simpler. Features like the house wizard, improvements to door and window designs and many other additions make this software stand out. If you already own TurboCAD and simply want to upgrade, the Pro Platinum edition comes with a variety of time-saving features. Whether you will be working with mechanical or architectural drafting, you will find tools that will allow you to eliminate repetitive actions or simply turn a complex project into a manageable one.
One thing we did miss while using this software is the lack of a command history and shortcut commands in general. The lack of commands makes architectural drafting much more complex since you are constantly changing tools. However, even with the lack of commands, the 3D aspect of the program is not really hindered, and you will still be able to complete projects in a timely manner. The majority of features added to the Platinum version of the software focus on designs within the 3D view, which for the most part require tools that are more complex. Therefore, the lack of commands does not make the process much more difficult.
TurboCAD utilizes a drawing engine known as Redsdk, which is able to use your computer's GPU graphics card to enhance the Hidden Line, Draft Rendering and Wireframe modes. This engine makes using features like the ray tool, pure tool or even the improved fillet tool a possibility. The purge tool makes it much easier to remove unneeded or even unused objects from the modeling space, which makes images easier to render and easier to work with. Additional features, like enhanced layers and an improved drafting palette, make organizing your work much smoother and easier to accomplish. Many of the older features, such as trim and fillet, have received a new finish to meet the standards of the latest CAD software.
When it comes to 3D design, TurboCAD Pro Platinum shows its true colors. Whether you are building the world's tallest skyscraper, a new jet engine or simply creating a diagram of the items needed for building a table, TurboCAD offers the tools you need. The new On Polyline Patter tool lets you apply 3D patterns on polyline with six different tools that help create parametric patterns from ACIS solids. This will reduce the amount of time you spend trying to apply patters to every line and will ensure better-quality designs.
Additional 3D tools like the 3D fillet and the multi-add tool make working with Boolean operations or filleting 3D polylines quick and simple. The multi-add Boolean tool makes removing sections of your 3D mechanical drawing much easier and, as the name suggests, lets you remove multiple sections at once. The fillet tool makes it easy to smooth multiple edges of an object, which is one of the more useful tools when you're trying to round right-angled edges. You will also find that the bend/unbend tool, imprint tools and extrude tools are much easier to use and have more options than in previous versions.
Like many professional CAD software on the market, TurboCAD Pro Platinum can open, save, import and export to all of the common CAD file types. During our testing, we were able to load DWG and other drawing files without any real trouble. Aside from the basic file formats, you can also load many drawing file types, like JPG, PNG and many others. We were pleased with the amount of compatible files TurboCAD can handle and ran into no real issues during the process of testing the software for file compatibility.
In general, CAD software is not the easiest to use because it's designed for such a complicated type of work. However, TurboCAD Pro Platinum displays all of the major tools as soon as you open the application. The tools and features are located on the left- and right-hand side of the screen, as well as along the top. TurboCAD still uses the standard dropdown menu style layout for accessing additional tools or features. This older style layout will feel very familiar to most people, but the newer ribbon look that many software packages use is much easier to work with. TurboCAD Pro Platinum does include additional features and tools not found in the standard or pro editions, so keep in mind you will need to take some time to figure out how these new features work. You will find brief descriptions on how each tool or feature works on the company's site, but we suggest working with them in person since the descriptions are rather simple.
IMSI/Design's website contains a massive amount of information that will help you understand how the software works. You will find videos, tutorials and even a side-by-side comparison with older version of the software. A phone number and email address are both available in case you need to get in contact with a sales representative or tech expert. Our only real issue with this CAD software is the limited help and support you'll find within the application. There are no real help options available other then the basic help options you will find in almost any software. This is not crucial for consumer-end software, but for professional CAD software, a little extra help can go a long way.
TurboCAD Pro Platinum is one of the world's leading competitors in the realm of professional AutoCAD software. The application itself looks somewhat older due to the simple interface, but the powerful tools and features make up for the plain style. The main selling point is the extensive and well-defined 3D CAD design features, as well as the extensive file formats you can import, export and open. IMSI/Design includes all the major features you want in CAD software and presents them in a way that is easy to understand and even easier to use. Like all professional CAD software, you will need to have months or years of experience to make full use of the software. If you have this type of experience, TurboCAD Pro Platinum is a solid choice.
